A/HRC/17/25
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
12 April 2011
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Seventeenth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to
the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical
and mental health, Anand Grover*
Summary
The modern development enterprise and human rights movement have largely
existed in parallel since the Second World War, although they share common goals.
However, a growing rapprochement between the two fields is gradually occurring. This is
both as a result of recent discontent with the outcomes of solely economically focused
development efforts, and the increasing recognition of the important role human rights play
in securing the basic conditions necessary for living with dignity.
The Special Rapporteur examines the ways in which human rights, and the right to
health framework more specifically, can add value to development policies and
programmes. Using the example of HIV/AIDS, the Special Rapporteur considers projects
in which a human rights-based approach has been utilized, and explores the value added of
that approach.
The report points to a number of challenges that remain in incorporating human
rights into development work. In particular, the Special Rapporteur warns against adoption
of a "culture of evaluation" to the detriment of human rights-based approaches. The report
concludes with recommendations to the United Nations, and other actors in the
development and human rights fields, concerning ways to further strengthen the integration
of development and human rights.
* Late submission.
GE.11-12608